From: Tony John, Port Harcourt
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has tasked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to rise above electoral fraud and political bias, by conducting free, fair and credible re-run elections in the State, on December 10, 2016.
Governor Wike made the call yesterday, through the State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dr. Austin Tam-George during a press conference.
The governor regretted that it took persistent pressure from the state government and an unprecedented directive by the Senate to INEC, before the electoral body decided to fix the December date for the elections in the State.
He said INEC’s complicit behaviour to the rerun elections in the State, has eroded public confidence in the electoral process, adding that only free and fair polls would be accepted by Rivers people.
The governor advised the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) to abandon its politics of desperation, and work with the state government towards fair and credible elections in December.
Meanwhile, Wike has urged church leaders to pray, so that INEC would conduct free and fair elections to enable the state have representatives at the Senate, House of Representatives and Rivers State House of Assembly.
Speaking on the payment of salaries and pensions of those captured late in the biometric exercise, the governor said that Ministry of Finance has already credited the accounts of affected persons.
In his remarks, the Archbishop of Niger Delta Province, Most Rev. Ignatius Kattey, lauded Governor Wike for the interactive session.
He commended the governor for setting up a vibrant State Executive Council that has worked hard to develop the State.
